"All Good Things...," 20 Years Later

Star Trek: The Next Generation ended its seven-year run on May 23, 1994, with the two-hour finale, “All Good Things…” The extended farewell touched all the bases, sending Captain Picard into the past, present and future, a wild ride masterminded by Q. Fans caught glimpses of older versions of Picard, Worf, Riker, Crusher (or make that Captain Beverly Picard), etc.

They saw three different Enterprises. Denise Crosby, Colm Meaney and John de Lancie returned one last time as Tasha Yar, Miles O’Brien and Q, respectively.

And Patti Yasutake, Andreas Katsulas and Clyde Kusatsu reprised their recurring roles as Ogawa, Tomalak and Nakamura. And, of course, the series regulars gathered together for one last game of poker, joined -- finally, shockingly and poignantly -- by Picard.

As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of “All Good Things…” tomorrow, consider some of these tidbits:

-- Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga wrote the first draft for “All Good Things…” in just six days. They were also, at the same time, in active production on Star Trek Generations.

-- The 2012 Winemaker's Reserve Roussanne from The Callaway Vineyard & Winery won the Gold at the recent 2014 Winemaker's Challenge Wine Competition. Why do we bring this up? Because the Picard-Geordi vineyard scenes were filmed in early 1994 at the winery in Temecula, California.

-- Character actor Andreas Katsulas was in the midst of a great period in his career when he reprised his role as Tomalak. He’d co-starred the year before in The Fugitive as Sykes, a/k/a the one-armed man, and had just started his run as G’Kar on Babylon 5. Katsulas later guested on Enterprise, portraying Captain Drennik in “Cogenitor” in 2003. That proved to be one of his final roles, as Katsulas battled cancer, which claimed his life on February 13, 2006. He was just 59 years old.

-- Can you name the only two TNG regulars to appear in every episode? They are… Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes.

-- “All Good Things…” was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one, for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Special Visual Effects, and was also honored in 1995 with a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

-- The final line of dialogue belonged to Patrick Stewart’s Picard, who intoned, “So, five-card stud, nothing wild... and the sky's the limit.”